One of Nottinghamshire’s biggest firms will this week officially open a new factory in the United States as it expands its global presence. The Nottingham Post has been given unprecedented access to the new plant – as well as another site in Mexico – and to interview its most senior figures. Dan Robinson will be reporting through the week

It already runs a global manufacturing empire from a small Nottingham office – and now Purico has taken its first steps back into the United States market by opening a £55m factory that will make key parts for Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen vehicles.

The company, which has its head office in Huntingdon Street, took two years to purpose-build the plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which will eventually employ about 320 people.

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It is run by a new subsidiary firm called Bolta US, and will be the third site to make components such as insignia grilles and chrome flashings for some of the world’s largest car manufacturers.

The 230,000 sq ft site, in which production started earlier this year, will be officially unveiled on Friday (July 21) by company bosses, business partners from the UK and delegates from the US.

The Post will be present throughout a week-long trip that also involves a tour round a plant in Mexico.

Chairman Anil Puri said: “As a business we’ve got two sites in Mexico and Germany. We’ve already doubled and trebled the German plant’s turnover many times and were ready to expand again.

“By going into the USA it enables us to service our customers better. It’s a good opportunity to aim at the local content and customer requirements, as well as increasing the talent pool available to us globally.

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“We’re really looking forward to having this facility because the USA is a big market, so we’re now able to service it from this site, which has a lot of growth potential.

“Tuscaloosa was chosen because there are a lot of colleges around here so there should be a good talent pool available to us, while our two major customers – Audi and Mercedes – are close by.

“It’s very good for Nottingham because we’re one of the premier suppliers for surface coating in the world and it showcases how a company like ourselves can develop a truly global business.”

Purico was founded by Anil Puri’s uncle, Nat Puri – the richest Indian businessman in the county with an estimated worth of £75m, more than 30 years ago.

The company employs about 3,500 people and has a turnover of £400m across various parts of its business, which also include manufacturing bottles for weed killers and insecticide, as well as air filtration paper for coffee and tea.

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Purico’s subsidiaries in the automotive sector, which operate under the holding company White Capstan Limited, supply a “fair proportion” of Mercedes vehicles and lots of VW models, Mr Puri said.

It also conducts a small amount of business – which he wants to increase – for BMW, while it has worked on the Ford Mondeo and Focus models in the past.

The Alabama plant represents the first time Purico has had a presence in the United States since it sold a printing business, which had six American sites and was the number two global printing company for science publications, at the turn of the millennium.

After the company acquired a 48-acre greenfield plot of land and grants were secured from the US Government to aid the project, it took two years to create the facility while working in partnership with customers.

It currently employs 120 people in “high-quality jobs”, according to Mr Puri, but its workforce is expected to reach 320 by December next year as production ramps up.

The factory will be home to complex manufacturing by carrying out “plating on plastics” – the term used to describe the decorative or functional application of metal onto plastic objects using electroplating – for the automotive sector.

Car grilles, brand insignias, chrome flashings and car exhaust tail pipes are some of the components that will be made there.

White Capstan has a $300m (£231m) turnover and the new plant is expected to generate up to $100m (£77m) in extra revenue over the coming years, while other parts of the business will also grow.